Reproductive Health & Rights

This monograph is an introduction to participation in the context of the right to the highest attainable standard of health. A companion volume to Accountability and the right to the highest attainable standard of health (sometimes referred to as the "accountability monograph"), the monograph is intended to assist government health policy makers to understand the content and role of participation in the context of policy making and the right to health. The active and informed participation of people and groups in all health-related decisionmaking is a component of the right to the highest attainable standard of health.

The right to health places the well-being of people, groups, communities and populations at the centre of a health system. By doing so, implementation of the right can help to ensure that a health system is neither dominated by experts nor removed from the people it is meant to serve. In the context of health systems, this includes active and informed participation in the identification and development of health policy, as well as implementation and accountability. Clearly, participation has wide application in the context of the right to the highest attainable standard of health. In this preliminary monograph, the principal focus is placed on participation in the development of health policy, as a means of illustrating how active and informed participation can take place.

SWEAT interviewed 17 sex workers, eight of whom worked indoors in an agency and nine who worked outdoors soliciting clients on the street, through newspaper adverts and cellular phones. In some cases those working outdoors spoke of previous experiences when working in the indoor industry. Three themes emerged out of our discussions with participants relating to their experiences of stigma and isolation, discrimination, and violence. The study highlights these women's experiences and makes recommendations to address the stigma and discrimination.

Thirty-six years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision granted women legal access to abortion services across the U.S. Few Alaskans realize Alaska was the second of only four states to legalize abortion prior to Roe v. Wade.

A law passed in November 2008 prohibiting female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) in the state of Southern Kordofan is unique in Sudan. But for it to translate into genuine abolition, deep-seated attitudes and misinformation will have to be overcome.

Some 500 girls were circumcised in Sebei region over the Christmas period! This is an alarming rise in Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) because the number of mutilated girls stood at 90 in the previous circumcision season.